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The most important statements made by Lavrov in an interview with the “60 Minutes” program Moscow has no illusions about the prospects of a simple solution to the Ukraine crisis.

Russia does not agree with a ceasefire, legally binding agreements on Ukraine are needed.

Russia is not withdrawing from the negotiations on the Ukraine issue, but serious, concrete proposals must be put forward.

Putin's peace proposals on Ukraine are not preconditions.

Moscow adheres to the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, but is not advising anyone to test their patience.

Russia has never started discussions on what to do with nuclear weapons and whether they can be used.

The US has welcomed Moscow's proposed nominee for the ambassadorship in Washington, with the date of arrival being planned with Trump's upcoming inauguration in mind.

Israel launches another offensive against Yemen. Several missiles attack the country's infrastructure and airports. Israel describes this as an offensive against the Houthis. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warns that Israel's crazy strategy of destroying all neighboring countries will not bring it peace. Security is indivisible, you can't believe that by destroying all your neighbors' military sites you can live in prosperity until the end of time - Lavrov.

Today at 12:26 Estlink 2, the power connection between Estonia and Finland, unexpectedly failed. According to the Estonian grid operator Elering, the cause of the outage is still being investigated. Estonia's power supply remains secure for the time being and regional reserves can compensate for the outage. Suspicious ship in focus The Hong Kong-registered ship Xin Xin Tiang is suspected of having damaged the submarine cable. It reportedly reduced its speed in the area of the cable. This vessel is a sister ship to the NewNew Polar, which was linked to the destruction of the Balticconnector pipeline in 2023.  The investigation is ongoing, but similarities to the earlier incident raise questions about possible acts of sabotage.

Update: Finland stops an oil tanker flying the Cook Islands flag that came from Russia - on suspicion of having damaged four cables in the Baltic Sea: A power cable and three internet lines connecting Finland and Estonia.  This was announced by the country's authorities, reports Reuters.  According to the law enforcement authorities, the reason for the damage was the ship's anchor.  The Finnish customs authority is of the opinion that the Eagle S ship is part of Russia's “shadow fleet” and is transporting oil in circumvention of sanctions.

US President Joe Biden's administration is apparently considering new extensive financial sanctions against the Russian energy sector in the final weeks of his term of office, writes the New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the article, the sanctions would be directed against the “shadow fleet” of international ships that transport Russian oil to non-Western countries, as well as against Russian oil exporters that are not yet subject to sanctions. The options also include the withdrawal of a license from the banks that allows them to process Russian energy transactions, it was said.

Denmark has significantly increased defense spending on Greenland after US President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to control the Arctic territory. The defense package, worth around 1.5 billion dollars, includes the purchase of new ships, drones and an upgrade of Greenland's infrastructure. Greenland's prime minister rejected Trump's proposals and emphasized that the country “is not for sale”.

According to US government officials, initial indications suggest that a Russian air defense system may have hit the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan. This was reported by CNN and ABC News, among others, citing the official. However, the White House also referred to personnel in the region, as the investigation was still ongoing.

Although the German government had suspended arms exports to Israel some time ago, it issued a license shortly before the New Year. In total, Germany has approved arms deliveries to Israel worth over 160 million euros for 2024. This includes spare parts for tanks and other technology worth 48 million euros and ammunition worth 37 million euros.

The IDF is working on plans for large-scale attacks in Yemen, which will be far larger than previous attacks, reports can. According to a report, the air force and intelligence department are currently expanding the list of targets throughout Yemen. Israel must act against Iran soon, says ex-Defense Minister Gallant; The coming military operation against the Houthis in Yemen will serve as preparation for Israeli action against Iran, he says via N12News.

On December 15, two tankers crashed in stormy weather in the Kerch Strait between the Russian mainland and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which is annexed by Moscow. According to estimates by Russian authorities, around 3,000 tons of oil spilled into the sea. Russia has declared a national disaster because of the oil spill in the Black Sea following a tanker accident. This allows the government to deploy more emergency services, technology and money in the fight against the oil, said Civil Defense Minister Alexander Kurenkov in Moscow.

Ahead of what is expected to be a tough parliamentary election campaign, the parties have agreed on a fairness agreement. Among other things, it stipulates that personal disparagement or attacks on the personal or professional environment of politicians should be avoided and that debates should be respectful. The agreement was reached by the SPD, CDU, CSU, Greens, FDP and the Left Party, as announced by the SPD and CDU. The target date for the new elections is February 23.